Best of 2012!

Hi Everyone!

How's everyone's 2013 shaping up?  I hope you're still going strong on your New Year's Resolutions!

 

Thanks to GummyVision for being curious enough to ask me to put up my favorites from 2012.  If you haven't already, check out her blog.  I think her blog is great because she talks about a lot of products I haven't had the opportunity to try and she gives her take on how they would react to people with sensitive skin.

 

Without further ado, here are my favorites from 2012.

 

You've heard me say it before, Johnson's Head-to-Toe Baby Wash is my go-to cleanser.  Go-To sounds too weak for how this ranks in my life.  This baby wash is as important and as steady to me as the sun rising in the East and setting in West.  A day without it just cannot be!  It's cheap, it comes in huge quantities compared to regular cosmetics and skincare, and it removes everything off my face and eyelashes.  It doesn't contain soap so it's great for people with sensitive skin, too!

 

Jurlique is new to my life but I love it so much!  It smells so good, like flowers, herbs, and spices.  It's so earthy.  I love using this as a morning cleanser because I just slather 4 pumps of this onto my face, massage for about 3 minutes, and wipe off with a hot towel.  This is my favorite method of cleansing my face in the mornings.

The Sisley Emulsion is one of those lotions/moisturizers I love to use because it smells like the Jurlique cleanser, earthy and natural.  It hydrates well without leaving my skin greasy or dry afterwards.  Same for the Elizabeth Arden Ceramide moisturizer with SPF 15.  It goes on smooth, absorbs well, and is a good base for the rest of my morning routine.

Here are a mish mash of my other favorites.  The Einstein Lip Therapy works well if I use as directed.  I also love its cooling sensation.

Neosporin is a staple.  It's like the Johnson's baby wash.  It handles everything from cuts and scrapes to post acne scarring.  Same for the T&J Acne Cream but it has one up over the Neosporin - the T&J Acne Cream has the power to lighten or whiten skin temporarily!

I consider the Salma Hayek Nuance leave-in hair treatment to be my special discovery.  This has been the only thing that has been able to tame my hair after going through some serious color damage.  It makes me sad to say this but I used to have silky soft hair.  It's right now coarse, rough, dull, and straw-like after getting it colored last year. 

 

Here are my favorite makeup items.  First up is the UNII Palette.  I use it every day and it's my default travel makeup palette.  Since I depotted most of my makeup, I can just switch out my shadows, blushes, brow powder, etc., as I want and pack it in my carry on.  It has a nice big mirror too!

Inside the red UNII Palette are my default eyeshadows.  These are the depotted Stila Contouring Trio shadows that can be used to contour, highlight, and define.  The contour shade on the left actually shows up more orange on my cheeks, so I've found a better use for it as an eyeshadow.  The matte cream shade on top is the natural highlight, and the shimmery light taupe shade is a great all-over eyelid color.

And finally, my favorite high end palettes.  On the left is my first ever Lancome travel palette, purchased en route from Taiwan to Los Angeles in 2009.  Obviously, I tried and failed to depot the lipstick, which is why it looks like a crater in the palette.  The eyeshadows are among the most long-lasting eyeshadows I've ever tried and that's with and without eyelid primer.  The blush, however, is the star of the show.  It's such a beautiful mauve pink color and is just as long lasting as the eyeshadows.

Finally, the Dior palette!  I love the eyebrow wax/color in the palette.  It matches my skin and hair perfectly.  The reason I got it was because it matched most closely what my makeup artist used on my eyebrows for our engagement photo shoot.  The eyeliner is not as exciting because it smudges and isn't black enough.  Maybe I'll begin using it as an eyeshadow base this year.  The eyeshadows are really nice and long lasting.  This palette has come in really useful when Mr. P and carpool to work and I'm still putting on my face.  :-)

Thanks again to Gummy for tapping me to do this post and to everyone who stopped by!

Have a great day and year!